> Markdown version of [/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1406-building-pragmatic](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1406-building-pragmatic). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Building Pragmatic AI: 10 AI Features Your Users Actually Want - **Event:** World Congress 2026 North America ## Description At many companies right now, the directive is coming from the top: "We need AI in our product." CTOs hear it from boards. Product leaders hear it from executives. Engineering teams hear it from everyone. In this full-day, hands-on masterclass, you'll learn how to build 10 AI features that deliver real value by automating the work your users aren't good at or don't want to do. We'll build things like semantic search that finds results based on meaning instead of keywords, RAG that answers questions over your own content, and extraction that turns messy input into clean structured data. We'll do summarization that cuts long content down to something manageable, classification and routing that triages work on its own, and sentiment detection that tells you when a specialized model beats a general one. You'll see implementation patterns where a human stays in the loop, anomaly detection that surfaces issues, and recommendations that suggest the next right step. And we'll finish with agentic workflows, where a plain-language request becomes a real sequence of actions your app carries out. Most importantly, we'll explore how the real question isn't "where can we add AI?" but "what problems can AI best solve for my users?" You'll leave with practical examples and hands-on experience of where AI might belong in your product and insight into how to explain those decisions to leadership. No prior AI or ML experience is required. Basic software development experience is recommended. ## Speaker ### [Jonathan "J." Tower](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@jonathan-j-tower) .NET Foundation Board | 12x Microsoft MVP | Founder & Consultant ## Related talks at this congress - [Beyond the Code: Human-AI Synergies in Product Development](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1734-beyond-the-code) — Ajita Kanchivakam Ananth - [From Idea to Production with AI: Agentic Development in Practice](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1418-from-idea-to) — Daniel Ostrovsky - [Building Stuff with GenAI - The Open Minded Workshop beyond OpenAI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1719-building-stuff-with) — Andreas Erben - [The Broken Rung: How AI is Rebuilding Software Development from the Ground Up](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1744-the-broken-rung-how) — Tomislav Tipurić ## Watch remotely Can’t make it to San José? Watch this session live with Pro. You also get: - All full videos, bookmarks, and playlists - World Congress livestreams [See pricing](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/pricing) ## Links - [Get tickets](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/world-congress-north-america/tickets)